1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to an electronic imaging technique using a novel radiation-shielding, interpolative-sampling mechanism. It provides a new imaging modality for digital radiography. Using this technique, a low spatial resolution flat-panel imager (such as Amorphous Silicon, Selenium, etc.) can be used effectively for high spatial resolution digital radiography.
2. Background of the Prior Art
The recent development of Amorphous Silicon and selenium technology make the flat-panel, solid-state imagers very promising in some diagnostic x-ray projection imaging. However, the current technology in electronics and material science limits the potential to reduce the pixel size (presently 100 to 200 microns) of these large area, two-dimensional arrays. Many current procedures (such as mammography) require high spatial resolution which requires an image with a pixel size that is smaller than 100 microns.
A variety of companies have invested millions of dollars to develop the high spatial resolution, flat-panel imagers for large field digital mammography and digital radiography. For instance, General Electric has developed a flat panel imager that can cover a full-field of a breast for digital mammography. The physical pixel size of the imager, however, is about 100 microns (Niklason L T, Christian B T, Whitman G J, Kopans D B, Rougeot H M, Opsahl-one B, "Full-field digital mammographic imaging, Radiology" (abstract), 201 ():446, 1996). This invention provides a unique, inexpensive solution to the technical challenge of covering a large field while maintaining high spatial resolution, within the constraints of the current technology. None of them has been successful up to now. This invention provides a unique, inexpensive solution to this difficult problem within the constraints of the current technology.